Coming out
by Sa-kun
Summary: Kai needs to talk, and Rei needs to let go of his prejudices.


Coming out.

Disclaimer. I don't own Beyblade.

* * *

Kai took deep breaths, steadying himself, before he opened the door to his and Rei's shared bedroom. 

"Rei?"

"Mm, what Kai?" Rei spoke, looking up from where he was folding his shirts and trousers, trying to fit them into his closet.

"Can I talk to you? I need to- Can we talk?" Swearing under his breath, Kai cursed himself for sounding so, so, _pathetic_ and _weak._

Rei frowned, but smiled and nodded nonetheless, "Alright Kai…what's the matter? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." Kai took a seat on the bed next to Rei, fiddling idly with his hands. Taking a deep breath, Kai opened his mouth to say something, however, he closed it faster than he'd opened it and stood up again. "Or maybe I'm not. I don't know. I don't know anything anymore! What's wrong with me!" Kai exclaimed, pulling at his hair in a frustrated manner.

"Kai?"

Sighing, Kai tried once again to speak, "I don't feel _anything_! Why didn't I feel _anything_!"

"Eh? What do you mean? I thought-"

"I do. I mean, I'm not a walking ice block. But she- Rei, Hiromi kissed me…and all I could think about was how, how _disgusting_ and _filthy _and _wrong_ it felt. I didn't- I couldn't- It was all…it was horrible Rei."

Rei frowned. "Oh. Uh, why? I mean, that's not exactly normal, is it?"

Kai snorted, "I know! That's what I've been trying to tell you…" Kai turned around, facing Rei and let his bangs cover his eyes. "Grandfather always said being human, and you know, having emotions and yeah, feeling, feeling, eh…"

"Love, Kai?" Rei supplemented, a small smile gracing his feline features.

Kai blushed slightly, coughing in an embarrassed manner, "Ah, _that_, was weak and, well, weak is probably the nicest word. So I thought his old training had come back to haunt me…"

"It had, right?"

"…no…I, uh, I'm feeling. At least I'm trying to."

"So? Hiromi is kinda good-looking, nice shapes and lovely legs, don't you think?" Rei said, glancing sideways at Kai.

"No. She's horribly…girly." Kai looked down at the floor and twirled the ends of his scarf between his fingers.

"What!" Rei frowned, raising his eyebrows.

"Rei?" Kai took a deep breath, looking up from the floor.

"Yes?"

"I think I'm gay."

"You what! That's, that's-" His golden eyes widening in disbelief and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly in disgust.

"Different?" Kai glanced down at the floor again.

"Hell yes! It's not natural Kai. Are you sure? It could just be Hiromi, what about Miriam?" Rei said, thinking that maybe Hiromi just wasn't Kai's type.

"Too much legs." Kai frowned, thinking about her team, the thoughts about the team captain, and certain aspects of his hair leading his thoughts to a fellow Russian of his. _Now Yuriy, he certainly has nice legs…_

"Mao?" Maybe Mao was better; Lee had always said her eyes were pretty.

"Too pink and whining and-" _Lee is hotter_, Kai finished the sentence silently after Rei's interruption. _You are definitely the most attractive one of the cats…_

"Ming Ming?"

"Too girly, she's too obsessed with her looks and-" _Give me Brooklyn any day, or even Hiro_…Kai thought dreamingly, once again cut off.

"What about Salima? Or, or Emily?" Rei blurted, desperate now.

"Salima's too feminine, she's all curvy and, well, Emily? Seriously? She's a brat, an annoying know-it-all." Kai frowned. _Yuriy's the only hot redhead I know…_

"Heh. Like a female version of Kenny?" Rei grinned sheepishly, trying to ease the moment.

"Mm. Rei, I _am_ gay…it's-"

"But-!" Rei intervened, desperately trying to find an explanation, a solution, anything.

"No 'buts' Rei! That's just the way it is!" The two-toned blader cried out and Rei answered in the same manner. "But it's wrong!"

"No it's not! It's different and maybe not entirely normal, but that's the way it is! That's the way I am!" Kai shook his head exasperated, "Goddammit Rei! Out of everyone in this team, I figured you'd be the best person to talk with! You've always been so bloody understanding and compassionated towards me! I thought we were friends!"

"We _are_! It's just…" Rei shook his head, unable to put it into words.

"Just what, Rei?" Kai mocked him, "Wrong?"

"Yes!" Rei hissed, standing up as well, "Also, counting in the fact that I was _raised_ in a _remote_ old fashioned, traditional Chinese mountain _village_. With Elders! Is it so strange that it's wrong to me? Until I left the village, I thought _everyone _was punished and sometimes even killed because of it!"

"What? That's absurd!"

"I know! But that's the way it is! That's how I was raised. I was raised believing it a disease. So excuse me if I have a hard time adapting to _this, this_ westernised, modern world." The neko-jin huffed.

"I never knew- Wrong. I knew your world was different from Max's or Takao's…I just never thought-"

"I never told you exactly how different it was, did I?" Rei raised an eyebrow, smiling sadly.

"True. Neither did I, so I suppose I have no right to criticize you." Kai said wistfully.

"Mhm. But Kai, seriously," Rei said, his eyes softening. "Are you sure? It's not just some sort of stage or hormonal-"

"Yes." The crimson orbs stared seriously at Rei, making no room for any doubts or hesitations.

"How sure?" Rei returned the gaze pleadingly.

"Completely." The tone of Kai's voice made it definite, efficiently cutting off any further questioning.

"Oh. Okay." Rei took a shaky breath, sitting down on the bed again, slumping slightly, "Shit!" He shot up again as if struck by lightning.

"What?"

"We share a bed!" Kai raised an eyebrow.

"So? We've always shared a bed."

"Yeah, but-" Seeing Kai's amused expression, Rei broke off, his eyes narrowing. "What?"

"Hiromi kissed me two or three months ago."

"Oh. My. God." Rei fell back on the bed, shocked beyond belief. "It-It's not contagious, is it?"

Kai's amused expression vanished in a split second, only to be replaced by a dark look. "No Rei. It's not a bloody disease!"

"Oh. Right, sorry. Silly me. Heh." Rei laughed nervously, "You sure?"

"Yes." Kai grit his teeth.

"Oh…th-The Elders always said that…" The neko-jin whispered softly.

Sitting down beside his dark haired companion, Kai smiled softly. "They really messed you up, didn't they?"

"Mm. Any kind of, _funny behaviour_, at least according to them, was punished and they poured some disgusting, smelly concoction down our throats, supposedly to drive out the demon that possessed us. It was absolutely vile."

"'Ours' Rei? You drank it?" Both of Kai's eyebrows rose, disappearing under his bangs.

"Yeah…I-They forced me. Apparently, I wasn't responding to, erm, Mao's affections…" He trailed off, figuring Kai got the message.

"What was the problem then?"

"That was it. I wasn't responding."

"That was it?"

"Yeah…they gave it to Kiki because he said something about riding broomsticks once…I know it might sound, er, weird. But we always pretended that the brooms were horses when we were kids…" The neko's eyes looked dreamy, thinking of a childhood he had outgrown.

"The Elders sound rather paranoid to me." Kai's strong voice brought him back to the present, away from controlling Elders and children games.

"They are. They banished me." Rei said softly, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"What! Why?" The blue haired 'blader said shocked, feeling slightly sorry for his friend.

"I left. You are not allowed to leave…I haven't been allowed back there for years."

"That's awful." Kai said, placing his hand on Rei's shoulder to show that he cared. Upon felling Kai's touch, Rei tensed up immediately, making Kai sigh and pull his hand back. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I just have to get used to it, I guess…"

Kai smiled with relief, laughing softly. "Really?"

"Yes, really. A lot of the things they tried to beat into our skulls were wrong and stupid, so why not this time as well? I'll try, I promise. You are a great friend and I'd hate to lose you. It'll probably take some time though…"

"That's to be expected." Rei lifted his head, met Kai's gaze, and for the first time ever, saw Kai's eyes glow with genuine happiness. "Thank you, for not hating me." Moving closer, Kai hugged Rei, snickering at the way he felt Rei tense. "Can you feel all of my gayness rubbing off on you?"

"_What!_ But you said-!" Rei shrieked, almost pushing Kai off the bed in his haste to pull back.

"Geeze! Rei, I was joking." Kai laughed.

"You were joking?" He said disbelievingly.

"Ah." Kai's eyes still glowed, happiness still very much apparent on his normally emotionless features.

"Okay." Rei figured that if his words, his promise of trying to come to terms with homosexuality made Kai this happy, happy enough to shed his barriers…Rei figured it was very much worth it.

"Erm Rei?" The hesitant tone of Kai's voice mad Rei startle.

"Yes?"

"Could you keep this a secret from the others? I don't think I want them to know."

"Uh, sure." Rei smiled, showing off his fangs and hesitantly reached out to squeeze Kai's hand softly, before hurriedly pulling back. His determination, the will to please and make Kai happy, was the only thing that kept his hand from shaking. Feeling immensely proud of himself he looked up at Kai's face. Rei was flabbergasted. Kai was smiling, not a small smile, like before, but a wide, honest smile. "It really means a lot to you…" Kai nodded, "More than you'll ever know. You've never judged me before…and I was so afraid you would this time…I've heard both Mao and Lee talk about it before…I never knew for sure about you, your opinions, but I hoped-" Placing a hand in the air, his index finger hovering just in front of Kai's mouth, almost but not quite touching, Rei cut off Kai's rambling.

"Shh. I know, they are rather prejudiced. They never could understand the ways of the modern world. I've tried to explain countless of times, but they don't care, they don't want to listen…don't care about them alright?" Kai nodded, watching Rei's hand apprehensively, wonderingly. Unconsciously, Rei moved his hand Kai's fringe, running his fingers through it. "Mm…" Kai sighed, relaxing heaps from Rei's treatments. "Your hair's really soft, feels like silk almost… " Rei removed his hand, making Kai moan softly in protest, Rei laughed and patted Kai's head. "Is it your natural colour? I've always wondered…"

"Ya."

"It's beautiful. Er. I mean, it's cool. Yeah, cool." Rei blushed. Kai looked up smirking, chuckling at Rei's expense, but didn't comment on it. "Thank you, your hair is lovely too. Now, move your stuff and get to bed. I'm sleepy." Kai pushed slightly at Rei, indicating that he wanted Rei to move his laundry. Now.

Rei squeaked. "Eak!"

"What?" Kai, grumbled, very annoyed and very tired, the emotional strain taking its toll.

"We're sharing a bed!"

"Not again. I already told you it was months ago. We've shared a bed since, well, basically since we met, and I'm still Kai and you're still Rei." He exclaimed exasperated.

"You're gay!" Rei shrieked, albeit quietly, sounding slightly hysterical.

"Go to bed." Kai pushed the laundry onto a nearby chair, stripping down to his boxers and held up the covers and slipped under them. He motioned for Rei to do the same.

"But-!" The poor neko-jin spluttered, though it was all for nothing. Apparently, Kai's temporally niceness had worn off.

"Now!" The captain barked, more or less ordering Rei to bed.

"Yes Kai." Obeying meekly, Rei undressed to his boxers, figuring if Kai noticed he was wearing more than normally…well, better safe than sorry. Rei slowly made his way towards his side of the bed, and hesitantly lay down.

"Rei. Relax." Turning towards Rei in the now dark room, Kai gazed sympathetically at his roommate. Normally Rei would curl up, purring softly as he fell asleep. At the moment, however, Rei was lying tensely on his back, very tensely.

"Y-Yeah…I-I-" Feeling the bed dip and hearing it creak a bit as Kai moved closer, Rei tried to relax. "Rei. I'm still the same Kai as yesterday. You snuggled up to the same, gay Kai for warmth yesterday."

"I know." Rei said, mewing softly, "So why can't you relax? I thought you said you'd try. You promised you would."

"I know." Laying on his side, Rei curled up slightly, before hissing, "Shit!" and uncurling back into his previous position. "Rei-"

"Shut up! Ow! Oh God!"

"What? Rei are you okay?" Kai asked worriedly.

"No. I forgot, but Max's blade knocked into my side… Apparently with more force than I thought. Ow." Rei whimpered. "I can't sleep on my back!"

Moving even closer, Kai daringly put his head on Rei's shoulder and hesitantly slung an arm over Rei's torso. "Kai?" Rei stopped breathing, moving, and just lay perfectly still.

"I always sleep better when you, er, are cold…" Slowly Rei's heart started to beat again, his lungs remembered how to breathe. "Because I curl up to you?"

Kai yawned. "You'll see…" Shyly, Rei turned his body towards Kai, as much as he could without lying on his side, before timidly placing his arm around Kai as well.

Within moments Kai fell asleep; his head nestled in the crook of Rei's hair, breathing steady. Rei's eyelids began to feel heavy; noting that Kai's breathing was oddly relaxing, lulling him into a deep sleep.

* * *

Fin. 


End file.
